The next round of negotiations between the Government and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will be held in the German capital Berlin
on the 7th and 8th of February, well placed sources said yesterday.

The talks were earlier scheduled to be held in Thailand but the LTTE's
Chief Negotiator Anton Balasingham is not fit to travel that far from his
home in Britain, the Norwegian government said in a statement issued on
Thursday.

AFP news service reported that the German government had offered to
host the talks after the Norwegian facilitators sought an alternate venue
that would cut down the amount of travel Balasingham has to undertake.

The duration of the talks has also been reduced to two days from the
earlier scheduled four days, mostly because Balasingham has not been able
to confer with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran since the last round of
discussions were held in Thailand earlier this month.

Balasingham was unable to go to the Vanni to see his leader because
floods in the region and a danger of catching an infection. He has had a
kidney transplant and therefore his immune system is weak.

The next round of talks will see the participation of former head of
the Human rights watchdog Amnesty International Ian Martin. At the talks,
the negotiators are expected to work out a way of monitoring human rights
violations.

Both sides have agreed to ensure that no rights violations take place
while the talks are on. Official sources said that the mechanism to
monitor rights violations will be similar to that which is monitoring the
ceasefire agreement.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission which monitors the CFA entertains
complaints from either side as well as the public and makes public
pronouncements about it's findings.

Observers of the peace process say that the monitoring of rights
violations will help develop a healthier culture for peace to take root
after many years of war.

The government's chief negotiator, Minister professor G.L. Peiris has
said that the talks have not been downgraded in anyway although the
duration has been shortened.

The government negotiating team is also likely to make use of the
opportunity to have meetings with the German government during this
period. They are expected to discuss matters relating to the upcoming Sri
Lanka donors meeting to be held in Japan in March.

Germany sent a ministerial representation to the earlier Peace Support
meeting held in Oslo, Norway in November.